The Endless Rut

A down in the dumps post.

Firstly, I'm tired, so there.

So, we are now in the thick of winter.  I shovel and shovel and work in between and take mom on her errands and keep track of her medicines and her groceries and her life in general.  She resents me nonetheless.  I know she doesn't mean it.  Yet I live with it. 

Her hearing aid died on Wednesday...not the battery.  The hearing aid office was closed on Thursday due to the blizzard...yeah the one with all the shoveling that I did.  It was open on Friday morning but I was busy and couldn't get there. 

Light snow again and again over the weekend...shovel, shovel, shovel.  This creates havoc with my arthritis.  I ache.

Mom can't understand why I can't get her hearing aid fixed...NOW!  I explain again about the office hours and the weather.  Doesn't matter to her...SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE!

So, here I sit watching the start of another blizzard.  Got Amanda to work and will need to pick her up at 4 today.  Hopefully the driving will still be manageable.  Guess I'll have to manage! 

I got a load of laundry done and Ray almost got a load done before the dryer broke.  Of course.  What else can go wrong?  He's off to get his soggy clothes dried at the laundromat.  Mom wanted to do a load but now can't.  She's mad because she has an eye dr. appointment on Tuesday morning and thinks she will have nothing clean to wear.  ONE MORE THING.

So when do I get her hearing aid fixed?  Blizzard tonight/tomorrow so can't get there even if they are open.  Their out-of-town office is open Tuesday, but Mom has a morning appointment and Amanda has an afternoon one...both in town.  Maybe Wednesday? (more snow expected) Not to mention someone will need to be home for the dryer repairman. 

Work?  Yeah, that, too.

Good Karma Shortage

I think the good karma for the week got used up when the girls went to the mall yesterday.  Yep, that's right.  Daughter found the jeans she wanted...bought two pair and some jean shorts.  Mom got some new tops and a pretty jacket.  I even found a tee shirt that I liked so much that I bought two...two different colors.  All in all it was a very pleasant afternoon.

Then we got home.

My order of piano supplies had arrived and I hauled the box downstairs to the workshop for unpacking.  I ordered the wrong sized parts for a job I'm working on.  Drat.  But no worries, with a bit of added labor I can assemble my own.  Also another box of keys arrived.  I was expecting it but was hoping for a couple days to catch up on other things...like housework.  No such luck?

Oh, mustn't forget to mention the morning phone call.  Before we had headed to the mall.  This was a phone call from another piano parts supplier.  They were checking, thankfully, about an order I had placed with them online.  They were making sure that I truly meant 10 sets rather than 10 parts.  Nononono! Umm, please don't send sets (= to about $2000.00), please send 10 parts, as in $5.00 per part.

So then we went out for the afternoon (the shopping trip) and had so much fun.

When I got home there was an email from the same supplier letting me know that the key tops, of which I had ordered 5 sets (yes, sets) were on back order until July-ish.  OH NO!  That won't do.  I have clients that sometimes like those budget minded replacements rather than the higher priced, albeit nicer, stuff.

So, last night I sat down with the computer to check out ordering from the place that I turned to last time this happened about 3 years ago.  Figured out my account info so that I could 'Login' to find out that there would be a 4 - 6 week delay for any orders to be shipped.  Evidently a couple employees are out finishing up their chemo treatments.

Now what?

Try Alternate Two Supplier.  Again another 'Login' hassle, but they had the parts and I got set to fill out my order.  Then it came to the shipping info and the only choices the site gave were UPS 1-day, 2-day, or 3-day.  Okay, I'm not paying to have 3-day shipping from California to Massachusetts.  That would cost about half the value of the items shipped!

I quit.  After over an hour I had gotten nothing accomplished.

I decided to try calling Alternate Two in the morning.  Or...more like after noon because of the time difference.

A bit of reading and off to bed.  Woke up this morning with one thing on my mind.
I had ruined tonight's dinner.  Double drat.  I had left a roast out to thaw yesterday meaning to put it in the fridge late in the day, or in the evening.  So umpteen hours later, it was very thawed on the counter.  Dumped that in the garbage.

Headed to the workshop, with my morning coffee, to unpack those keys that had arrived yesterday.  It is a key top and a bushing job.  For those of you unfamiliar with the work...for keytops I need only the naturals (white keys), for bushings I need the naturals and the sharps (black keys).  52 naturals and 36 sharps.  Problem...of course!  The tech shipped all 52 naturals but only 1 sharp.  I've sent him an email...I haven't heard back...yet...how can he not notice 35 sharps sitting there all by themselves...lonesome without their other keys...

Amid phone calls and shipping a set of keys, a stop at the bank and a trip to the supermarket (I bought another roast), I finally called the supplier in California and will be getting my 10 sets of el-cheapo keytops.  And they will be sent UPS Ground.  Fingers crossed.

While I was at the supermarket I bought myself flowers.  They are my good karma bouquet.  Hope they work.

Why Me?

Has it been about two weeks since THE Blizzard of 2015?  I think so.  As if getting 31 inches of snow within 36 hours isn't punishment enough, we had a surprise just to get us in the correct ihatelife mindset.  You see, the morning before the BIG blizzard, at approximately 6:15, the smoke alarms went off at our house.  Up I jumped, made sure R was awake, headed toward A's room but met her in the hallway.  Down the stairs with those two following, checking for actual smoke or fire as I went.  Opened Mom's door and she was out of bed.  A quick check of her end of the house, then headed down cellar.  All was fine.  I shut off the breaker that powers the electric aspect of the alarms.  Of course they keep on screeching.  We determined that it was the detector in Mom's den causing the problem.  The most difficult detector to get to. It's about 14 feet up on a cathedral ceiling.  Why not.  Hauled myself down to the cellar, once again, to retrieve the BIG ladder.  Up through the bulkhead into the dark and cold and on to the deck.  Mom stood in her den, inside where it was nice and warm (albeit very noisy) and stared at me as I motioned for her to unlock and open the door.  She stared some more...and more.  Just before I was going to slam the very heavy ladder to the deck, she decided that I might be wanting her to open the door.  Finally!

Set the ladder up after moving the sofa so that it would fit.  R suffers the least (maybe) from vertigo than the rest of us...or at least he inherited the 'climb the big ladder' since he's the only man in the house.  After unhooking the detector and removing the battery........silence.

After 7 a.m. I left a phone message for our electrician.  He came later in the morning, replaced the battery with a new one, tested the unit and went up the ladder to hook it all up again.  He chatted for a few minutes while I went to the cellar to flip the breaker back on.  Silence....YAY!  He packed up and headed out.  I don't think he could of made it far past the end of our street when...

The alarm went off again.  R went back up the ladder (he has no idea how much I appreciate that he will do it) and took the detector down, removed battery, then silence.  I called the electrician on his cell phone and told him what happened.  We agreed that we could leave the rest of the system activated and after THE blizzard he would come back to troubleshoot.

THE blizzard was followed by the SECOND snow storm.  I decided to wait for better weather to tackle the smoke detector problem. 

Now we are expecting a MAJOR snow event.  At 6 a.m. this morning we were rudely awakened by the smoke detectors going off - again.  So the now usual routine was followed with me checking on everyone and checking all areas of the house and cellar before flipping the breaker.  R discovered that the alarm in our bedroom was the culprit and he took it down and took the battery out...silence.

At about 8 a.m. we headed for the local hardware store to by enough new batteries for all the detectors.  $30 worth.  We got home and after breakfast and a few other things, installed new batteries in all detectors...silence.  Great!  That was at 11 a.m.

1 p.m. all the alarms went off.  I was out shoveling, widening the drive in anticipation of needing more room for more snow to come.  I could hear the screeching outside.  By the time I got to the door (and was greeted by Mom), R had pulled down the bedroom alarm and deactivated...silence.

I left a message for our electrician that after the weekend and after this next MAJOR snow event, we needed him at the house.  Sounds like the 10 year life detectors that he had installed 1.5 years ago may have spent more than 8 years on a shelf at the suppliers - or something.

Meanwhile, just in case another decides to screech, I have bought 3 battery only detectors, one for each level of the house.  If another combo electric and battery one fails, we'll disconnect them all and go the battery only route until the electrician can get here.

Really.  Isn't over 45 inches of snow with up to another 20 inches anticipated enough to deal with?  Why do the smoke detectors have to compete for attention?

More for the Anti Facebook Crowd

Photos of storm number two.

Yesterday they brought the big snow blower to widen the road.

This morning looked like Tuesday morning, just less room for snow.

By mid day they had brought in the big equipment to get a bit ahead of things...helped for about 15 minutes then you couldn't tell it had been around.

Guess I'll be digging out the oil fill, bulkhead, and deck again.

Tonight we got our own snow pile.  That's supposed to be Dodd's Lane on the other side of it.

Even the articulated loader has a difficult time trying to pile it higher and higher.

Well, I Have Been Saying This...

This was clipped from some newspaper stuffing around a set of keys received this week.  I'm not the type that goes for believing this stuff, but...
Mostly it seems to be the drivers.  It is hardly safe to be out on the roads any more.  They cut right in front of you, run stop signs, and drive down the middle of the road.  Just last week I took my turn stopping at a stop sign and watched in amazement as the truck in front of me made a U-turn at Five Corners...yikes!  Oh, and that drive down the middle of the road thing?  I had just made a left turn, pulling out of our street on to the main road...which happens to be Main Street...heading toward town when the pick-up truck coming up the hill veered in to the middle of the street.  I had to serve to the shoulder to avoid being hit.  He wasn't even texting.  He was looking right at me, like he was aiming for me or something.

And then there are the incompetents.  Evidently a homeowner needed to hook up to the town sewer system.  His contractor decided that it was okay to damage private property while doing the work.  The property belongs to a non-profit where I am the vice president.  I happened upon the mess while going for a Sunday walk.  A truck parked illegally on the property, stone walls damaged, tire ruts in mud when there used to be field growth, and dumped soil and tree branches.  To top it off, it's not only private property, but it is conservation land.  The contractor had also split a utility pole and that had to be replaced!  Met with the guy and hopefully, eventually, all will be well.  He tried to tell me that they had done us a favor.  What?

It snowed today.  I think it is pretty but I hate it.  Anyway, we got all the walks and drives shoveled - three times.  Pain in the...pain in everything.  We have back door neighbors and the foot of their driveway kind of crosses over our property and my driveway.  I shoveled my drive.  Then neighbor lady came out to shovel hers.  She left a little ridge of snow between the two.  Huh?  Why?  I had just cleared half the area.  Wouldn't it be easiest to just finish her half?  Why leave a 30 foot dividing ridge that was about 6 inches, give or take, wide?  I've only been nice to these people, never caused any trouble.  I wave when I pass them on the street, say hi when out walking.  She tries to avoid speaking to me.  She used to be real friendly.  What have I done?

See her?  My drive looks white as I finished before she started and it was still snowing.  My drive is between that long ridge of snow to her right and the stick marking the edge of my parking spot.  Why would anyone leave that ridge of snow?  The next time I went out to shovel, I shoveled the ridge away.  She hasn't shoveled since.  Must be angry that I cleared the ridge. 

In other wonderful news.  I just heard that we are to expect a blizzard on Tuesday.  OH JOY.
Maybe I'll take some pretty pictures.

The I Give Up Factor

Yep, been thinking a lot along that line lately.  I just seem to be trying to shovel molasses uphill about everything!

The company A works for is dumping health insurance coverage for its part time employees.  95% of the employees are part time. Anyway, this month she MUST sign up for health insurance under the new Affordable Care Act.  (No lectures from those who hate it, please)  So, A hasn't a clue how to deal with such rigmarole as is on the state website...it falls to me to help.  I have spent several hours online trying to get her signed up.  She qualifies for state aid paying for the insurance.  First they wouldn't accept her application as they couldn't verify her information.  I called.  We sent a copy of her state ID as requested.  She got a phone call saying that she could complete her application online.  That was my job this morning.  Over an hour at the computer and four phone calls later (the type where you have to listen to the long intro message then choose 1 or 2 in answering several automated questions) (oh, make that 5 calls, they disconnected me after making my choices one time and I had to start again), they finally accepted her application determining she was eligible for state aid but they needed proof of residency.  Mind you, she has paid state income tax for the last 11 years and has voted here for 12 years...not to mention that they have a copy of her state ID.  So that was my last phone call...what to send them?  They wanted a utility bill in her name...nope. How about her cell phone bill?...nope, family plan.  We finally settled on a notarized letter from me stating that she lives with me, here, at this address, which they should already know.

Just mailed that to them.

Hopefully she'll get a letter with her options for a health plan without having to jump through more hoops.

Then, both of our humidifiers have quit working.  Same style, same manufacturer.  Holmes.  I emailed the company.  They asked for the special date code on the prong.  I sent the two codes.  They replied that they were out of warranty...even though one was purchased only a month ago.  I emailed back that I would never buy another of their products...ever.

The SC estate settlement still sits in limbo.  Just needs the judge to sign off on it and the funds can be dispersed.  We wait..........and wait.  They say that they are running behind.....6 months?

I have my hotel registration all set and, last month, sent a check for my seminar registration for NEESCO (piano technician seminar).  I haven't received confirmation of the seminar payment...I need to check on that. 

Why is everything so darn painful to get accomplished?

What next?

Lunacy

The 'Snow Moon' last night

My goodness!  The email/web/Internet in my world is nuts right now.  I can't wait for some of it to sort out.

Well, I guess that I CAN wait...and I will.

It's like this:  I have a primary email account.  Currently that account handles personal emails, historic society emails, and two separate piano technician related groups.  There is a big shift happening with the piano groups.  The main group is being dissolved, yet the members don't want that to happen.  A replacement format has been instituted (group 2) that the vast majority of the main group don't like.  The talk is to abandon ship.  Sooooooo, that brings us to the web based piano groups.  I already belong to a group that discusses piano stuff.  It's open to anyone, so it is not very technician based.  Now I've subscribed to two alternate piano tech groups that are determined to replace the main group.  These are the folks from the main group who have abandoned the 'official' new format.  Both these two new groups are Google based and I receive them through Gmail.  I could change one of them over to my primary email if I choose, but the other is a Google+ format that sticks with Gmail.

So, that's two email address...each handling two piano groups, plus other stuff.

Still with me?

Good, because there's more!

There are my two Yahoo email accounts.  The one tied to this blog that also gets a lot of advertising because of using it when signing up for things like BFF Friendly's or Staples.  It also handles my Facebook notifications. The second Yahoo account is my business email.  Somehow the business email also ended up as the spot where I receive two other Yahoo group news digests.

Of course I also have an email through my website.  Thankfully that forwards through to my primary email account.

How many is that?  Ummm (counting off on fingers)...5.

And the non-email places where I write, kind of at my leisure...here at my blog, my personal Facebook page, my business Facebook page, and my website.

I'm tired.

2,4,6.......

Most of you know that I hate winter.  Yep, snow is pretty and all if only it didn't make for work shoveling, nasty driving, mud when it thaws, wet socks when someone tracks it in to the house and cold temps. 

Even worse is snow when it is windy.

Overnight and today we are predicted to have 4 - 6 inches of the white stuff.  Not bad until you add wind gusts over 35 mph.  So...once again we have drifting snow.  A pain to shovel.  Nothing in all the wrong places and too much where you don't want it.  You no sooner move it and it's back where you don't want it again.

Phase one has been completed.  You'd never notice it by looking out the window.  Phase two will be at noon.  'A' has to be at work at 3 p.m.  Hopefully the storm will be over by then.

A Book Review

I'm starting to write this book review after noting that Blogger has a Save feature.  I kind of knew the feature was there, just wasn't too sure about how well it would work. I won't be publishing this right away.

But I really want to write about this book.
And
I don't have anything good to say about it..

This is the book.

THE book

I heard about it from a fellow SBHS board member.  She found it while browsing at the library.  I reserved a copy...placed it on hold...and headed down the next evening to see what I was missing!

I wasn't missing much other than a good deal of aggravation!  The majority of the text is about Dogtown rocks and boulders.  Mostly it covers material already covered in previously published books by other authors.  And they did a better job of it. In fact, the only new information in this book seems to be an analysis of the lettering styles on the Babson Boulders.  Wow!  The author says that the various styles proves that they were carved by several people!  No kidding.  (Or...maybe one guy was just having some fun trying out new styles?  No, not that, but a little lack of research can be a dangerous thing.)

She goes on to indicate that there are numerous Native American cairns in the area woods.  Well, maybe, I say.  But after reading the next section of suppositions and fictionturnedtofact by Ms. Gage, in my opinion doubt is cast upon everything from her pen.

The stone mounds

Ms. Gage claims that the stone mounds at the Haskins Estate (Haskins Park, Poole's Hill) are Native American cairns.  Or to be specific, the cairns are under the neat covering stones.  She feels that these loose rock cairns were not in keeping with the other stonework of the estate claiming that their covering stones are not cemented out of respect to the origins.  She indicates that the pools were cemented stone, as well as the entry pillars.  But what about the 'dry' stone walls?  No cement there.  Even much of the foundation work was not cemented. The author would have done better to have researched more thoroughly before adding guesswork and misinformation to her publication.  If she had really wanted to convey the truth about the mounds, rather than making them into something she wants them to be, she would have found out that the mounds are most likely just the remnants of clearing the land for Haskins to build his estate in 1892.  The hill was originally referred to as Popple Hill because of the enormous amount of stones covering its surface. Oh and that was 1892 NOT the 1880's as claimed by Ms. Gage.  Anyway...in the early 1960's, Frank Glynn, a noted Connecticut archaeologist examined the stone mounds of the Haskins estate and found nothing predating "American flowerpot".  Sorry Ms. Gage.

As to the rest of Ms. Gage's suppositions about the Haskins property...

The upper pool 2012

The lower pool 2012

She writes:  "In the wooded area beyond the lawn he built stone-lined landscaping pools...The pipes were part of an elaborate landscape pool system...The pipes were used to add aesthetics to the water flowage from pool to pool...The vertical pipe produced a bubbly fountain affect...The horizontal pipe added an additional quantity of water at the bottom to create a waterfall affect into the lower pool.  It was an illusion amplified by the sound of a waterfall...The pools...were not part of a formal garden...This is the complete opposite of the gently rolling open lawn..."  She continues to add that there were paths through the woods meandering around the landscape pools.  Hah. 

Period photo showing the upper pool in its manicured setting

Truly in error. Had she done a bit of research at the SBHS (which is just down the hill from Haskins Park), Ms. Gage would have found many photographs showing just the opposite of the landscaping details she goes on about.  If she had checked around, she even could have spoken to former residents of the property!  Indeed, the 'wooded' pools WERE a part of the formal landscape. The 'top' pool was a swimming pool, not just a landscape feature!  The bottom pool was a run-off pool for overflow from the pool above.  Both pools had beautiful 'island' gardens.

An aerial view c.1930.  The double set of pools shown as numbers 5 and 6 and obviously included within the lawn area.

A slightly different view from the upper pool.  House to left, cottage to right.  Stone mounds surrounded by young trees and shrubs just right of middle.

And the pipes that Ms. Gage is sure were for the elaborate landscaping pools?  Mr. Haskins had a complex  system of pipes because he was providing his own water supply for the estate.  Pumps drew well water up into the estate's own storage tank and then the resulting pressure from the elevated tank supplied the water to the houses and to the barn.  You can find the remains of these pipes all over the woods in the area because the burned leftovers of the buildings were bulldozed off to the sides taking all the piping along.

Ms. Gage also claims to have found a cistern near the cottage.  What she fails to realize is that her 'cistern' was actually a cesspool.  One of two on the property.  A shame to mix up those usages!

Photo taken during the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 showing the water tower in the background.

Ms. Gage's lack of thorough research about the Haskins property leads me to wonder about all her other suppositions presented as facts and the feeling that this is a book she should have never published.  Thank goodness she only paid to have 100 copies printed!

Sorry, Ms. Gage, that's just how I see it after a year of research.

 

Money

I've been playing phone tag with an out of town restaurateur.  First it was someone calling on his behalf.  They left his cell number. I called it and left a message.  Later yesterday, I had a message on my machine from the person.  I called back this morning and got voice mail...again.  This time though, within 5 minutes, said restaurateur called back. He wants to sell the piano.

The short of it is that I volunteered to do a free (it's kinda local), quick check, prior to this piano being offered for sale, of a year old tuning that had been done by someone else.  I ran over to the restaurant before it opened today.  Yep, very out of tune.  Double checked tuning pin torque on some of the more offensive notes.  All fine with that.  Got back home and called the restaurateur with the promised report.

It went like this...

Me:  The piano needs tuning.  It's totally up to you whether you want to tune prior to selling it or if you want to explain that you've had it looked at and all is satisfactory for tuning after moving to a new location.  (it'll have to be tuned then anyway.)  As I said before, my tuning fee is $$$$.

Him:  Would you tune it for a small cash payment plus gift certificates for a couple dinners?

Me:  No, I'm sorry, I don't do that.  (Honestly, I'd be rich in food coupons, play tickets, etc.  but unable to pay my electrical bill or put gas in my car.)

Not going to tune.

Afterthought.....I tune at a lot of churches.  I can see the offer now....we can pay you a portion of your fee in cash and offer the balance in the promise of salvation!

Sigh.

Awareness

I have a new one relative to a recent project.  A new awareness, that is.

Not for the website

I've been accumulating text and photographs to throw myself further into the business world with a website.  I had a vision of what the site would look like.  I drew it up on paper...an expanded plan noting my color choices and style.  It would be five pages, basic but classy.

Vision...
Would be...

So I looked at some DIY sites.  Not a thing close to what I want.
I contacted a local website designer and had sticker shock...

Until I contacted two other local designers and needed to be scraped off the floor.  Evidently designer number one was pretty reasonable.

Which brings me to the conclusion that I have beer taste on a tap water budget.

I should have known.  This is often the case with me.  I get the idea, even see it all in my head, only to eventually realize that it isn't out there.  Well, not within my means, at least.  Usually my idea, concept, want or need is not extravagant at all.  It's just that little bit too far removed from the norm that it must be specially created.

Creating a 'special' website, the one that is in my head, is beyond my personal capability to create.  And even though it's not something flashy or super high end, it's beyond my pocketbook.

I must re-evaluate.  I must now start with no preconceived idea.  I need to look at what DIY options are available to me and work within them.  So that's plan B.

As I mentioned, I have been taking some photographs for possible inclusion on my website.  This is not one that will be used, but for you piano technical types out there I'm putting it here.

From a prior technician (term used loosely)

This is soooooo wrong!  

Stated Again

You betcha!

In the mail today was a letter address to me from the state tax folks.  What now?

They chose to inform me that I had not paid enough in estimated taxes last year.  Yep, I know that.

They chose to inform me that they had calculated that I owed $10.88 in penalties and I would be receiving an assessment and a bill.  Um, wrong!

I already figured my penalty and included it on my tax form and in the check that I sent to them.

AHA!  A toll free number to call!

Mr. DOR says, "How can I help you?"

I say, "Today I received a letter stating that I owe a penalty.  I've already paid the penalty.  It was included in the check I sent.  That amount was added, per instructions, to the amount of tax that I owed.  My check was dated 3/8/12 and that is the date of payment on which I based my penalty."

Mr. DOR replies, "That does not show on your tax form."

I reply, "Yes, it does, it's on the bottom line where the form reads 'penalty'.  I then added that amount, as instructed, to the payment amount line."

Mr. DOR says, "Oh, I guess the machine didn't pick that up."

So I confirmed that I would owe nothing more.  Then I complained that they claimed my Mom hadn't filed her health care paperwork.  He said many would receive those letters...mistakenly.  So then I told him that my daughter's refund check had been sent to the wrong address.

Mr. DOR says, "You are having a time of it."

I wrote it all down, time, date, numbers, his name.........

(you can also see why I notsomuch love this state by going back a number of years to this post:
http://harmonyclubwaltz.blogspot.com/2007/03/wednesday-extremes-equal-exhaustion.html
Yep, notsomuch love)

It Seems Like Forever...

since I've written a post and it really hasn't been that long.  Maybe the weather is to blame for my confusion.  Last Thursday I sat in the sun on our deck in shorts and a tee shirt,  70°.  Saturday it snowed 4 inches!  Monday I was back on the deck in shorts and tank top.

R suffering through the harshness of Saturday morning

The pace of work has settled nicely.  Just enough keywork and plenty of tunings.  Just answered the phone to a tech wanting to come pick up the keys I did for him.  I really hate being called "hon" by someone who shouldn't be calling me hon.  Yuck.

I've started on a project for myself.  With R's help, last June I purchased a Concert Roller Organ.  I have just completed recovering the bellows and will begin work on the valve mechanism.  The crankshaft/handle needs repair by a fussy machinist.  I'm currently searching out a fussy machinist.  I've been given one name and promised another contact that very well might end up being the same as the first.  We'll see when that name comes my way.

The tax people continue to infuriate me.  I added a comment on my last post about A's refund check being addressed incorrectly.  Today the state revenue folks have done it again.  My mom got a letter from them saying that her Form HC (health care form required by the state) was not complete or not received.  Ummmm, wrong.  Anyway, they will not send her refund until they are satisfied and if not satisfied have threatened all sorts of fines and penalties.  So, nothing to do but to fill the darn thing out AGAIN and mail it with the new form that they sent asking for a signature that their letter was received!  Now...I KNOW that the original form was sent to them.  I have a copy of it and the tear-out official form is no longer in the booklet.  I reread all the instructions...just to be sure that everything was filled out as it should be...as it has been for the past umpteen years...it's not difficult...name, SS#, date of birth, income from line whatever, and two places to fill in bubbles.  That's it.  My first copy shows it all done.  I used that to copy for the original.  All tax forms get triple checked before mailing. 

Yes, I'm irritated.

We've still been walking in the woods and we've found the last of the Babson Boulders.  We had miscounted and actually had to find three instead of two.  It made for a rather strenuous 2 hour walk. 

 We also found Babson boulder Number 28.  Evidently we are the first to have discovered it!

This documentation of the well hidden Boulder Number 28 is now on display at Maria's Pizza where many photographs of Babson Boulders are hanging on the walls.

This past Sunday we walked along the path of the former incline railway that ran from Pine Pit to Bianchini Quarry.  It was a relatively short one hour round trip.  This coming Sunday we will either walk across the island, from Goose Cove Reservoir to Squam Hill or take a walk past Little and Big Pits (quarries) to find an abandoned stone house and the grave of a long ago Rockport native.

The old incline railway used for transporting cut granite from the quarries downhill (gravity) to the pier.  Empty cars were then hauled back up by oxen or locomotive.

A corner of Pine Pit.  It's hard to tell granite from water!

Next week is already filled with keys and tunings, then two historic society meetings and delivering two pieces of art work to the Rockport Art Association.  And on and on and on...

The Red, White and Blueness of Penalties

It's that taxing time of year again and I've been spending a lot of 'free' time working through three sets of taxes.  State and Federal for 'A', mom, and myself.  Mom's and 'A's are pretty straight forward.  It's just a matter of reviewing any tax changes that came up and double checking my math.

Mine, on the other hand...
I got hit hard this year.  It's not that I make a whole heck of a lot.  Actually, in the greater scheme of incomes, mine is pathetically minuscule.  However, I made more last year than I had anticipated.  That means that I didn't pay enough in estimated taxes and will be paying a minor penalty atop the amount I owe.  The totals put a bit of a crimp in my bank balance.  At least I have some in there to pay with! (I did realize, part way through the year, that I'd be owing more than usual and saved aside as much I could in preparation.)

So, I lose a customer AND get hit for tax money all within about a week.  At least my income should drop this year, back to where it normally rests at the bottom, so next year my taxes will go down!

And while I do hate having to pay out from the meager bank balance, I hate even more the hassle of figuring out the dollar amount of the penalty.  The Feds aren't too bad about it....took only 5 minutes or less to discover that I only owed in-the-neighborhood of a $10 penalty.  The State is vicious.  It's bordering on cruel and unusual punishment to fill out the form!

It works like this: With four columns of due dates...(each line below will have 4 entries)

Line 13. Enter the date you paid the amount in Line 12 or the 15th day of the 4th month after the close of the taxable year, whichever is earlier.

Line 14. Number of days from the due date of installment to the date shown in Line 13.

Line 15. Number of days in Line 14 after 4/15/11 and before 7/1/11.

Line 16. Number of days in Line 14 after 6/30/11 and before 10/1/11.

Line 17. Number of days in Line 14 after 9/30/11 and before 1/1/12.

Line 18. Number of days in Line 14 after 12/31/11 and before 4/16/12.

Line 19. Underpayment in Line 12 X (number of days in Line 15/365) X 5%.

Line 20. Underpayment in Line 12 X (number of days in Line 16/365) X 5%.

Line 21. Underpayment in Line 12 X (number of days in Line 17/365) X 4%.

Line 22. Underpayment in Line 12 X (number of days in Line 18/365) X 4%.

Line 23. Penalty.  Add the amounts shown in lines 19 through 22. (16 figures)  Enter this amount on Form 1, line 47......

Yep, all that to find out I owed a $9 penalty.

Time to take the rest of the day off.

Little Things...

DO matter!

As I was grabbing a few pistachio muffins for 'A' from the self-serve at a local grocery store, I gazed about the racks to see what other varieties were available...Cranberry Rasin, some other coffee cake type things and Apple Rasin.  Yes spell check, I typed R - A - S - I - N.  That's what the little signs read.   So being that things like spelling are important...at least to me...I very politely brought the error to the attention of a bakery department employee who just happened to be standing next to me.

And she said, "Oh, that's just a little thing.  It doesn't matter."

YES, YES, YES it does! *

(And those stupid backwards 'R' s in the Toys 'R' Us signs have always bothered me, too.)

How will anyone learn the correct way if no one cares when things are incorrect?

Oh, and another thing while I'm complaining...Mr. Driver at the top of Barn Lane...yeah, you who was supposed to stop at the sign that has the letters S - T - O - P.  Why did you feel the need to sound your horn at me and wave your middle finger my way?  I was on the main road with no S - T - O - P sign!

"You know you aren't supposed to be doing that!"

 *any spelling mistakes in this post, past posts, or future posts, are evidently just little things and not important enough to even be noticed.

Expired

So I suppose I haven't written and complained about much in some time.  I'm not going back to see how long it was but I would assume it most likely had something to do with snow.

This is different.

For some time now I have been noticing an increase in the amount of beyond expiration date food items on grocery store shelves.  I first noticed it at the now itself expired I.G.A. at the Whistlestop Mall in Rockport.  The I.G.A. was quite convenient to run to when, at the last minute, it became obvious that the teeny bit of milk left in the jug would not be enough for morning cereal, or that peanut butter sandwich that earlier sounded okay enough for lunch no longer held any appeal come noon.  Convenience lost it's appeal when we were traipsing back to return items long out of date.  Come on, a Stouffer's Mac & Cheese that expired in 2009?

So, I.G.A. is now closed and the majority of our shopping is done at the Stop & Shop on Bass Avenue.  Has this helped?  Not a chance.  I think they have decided to take over where I.G.A. left off!  Will I buy milk on the day that is the same as the buy by date?  Nope.  I checked a few days later and it was all still on the shelf!  Is Stop & Shop alone in this apparent negligence to remove expired items from it's shelves?

Oh no.  We stopped at Shaw's on Eastern Avenue to buy some breakfast items.  The next morning, when opening the box, lo and behold, the box read sell by Dec. 4, 2010.  Later that day we returned the item and went to yet another store, Market Basket.

Market Basket, at the Gloucester Crossing shopping center, is the 'new' competition on the island.  Maybe they would be more alert to quality.  You would think, huh?  Not so.  Although we replaced the Shaw's returned item with one that had a sell by date some 4 months in the future, we did a random check and found several different items, still on shelves, past their sell by date.

Add another half hour to your regular grocery shopping outing and start checking all the packaging!  I certainly will be doing that.  Especially after a news report last night (and this morning).

Boston Public Schools have been serving up meals made with items that are months (possibly years?) past their 'use by' date!  They claim they are abiding by all government guidelines (which allow the use of out dated frozen food items)!

Plowed

Dexter

That about says half of it.

It was snowing like crazy when I got out of bed yesterday morning.  I made a quick check and was delighted to see that the town HAD NOT plowed the back drive.  FINALLY, they got the message!  I went out after breakfast and started phase one of the big clearing out.  The snow was wet and heavy and really hard to shovel, especially where the plow had gone by out in front.  I shoveled out my parking in back and the back drive so that I could get my truck in and out.  The backdoor neighbor came out with his snowblower and finished off removing the plow-by at the intersection with the road (Dodd's Lane).  All was neat and tidy and I was very pleased.  I went out front to finish clearing the last half of mom's parking.

It was then that the little articulated plow started up the neighboring drive.  Oh, Nononononono!  He backed out.  Phew.  Then he got a running start and went up and around!  I dropped my shovel and ran through the snow to the back drive and caught him just as he paused at the bottom.  He opened his window.

I yelled over the engine noise, "You're not supposed to be plowing back here.  It's a private drive!  I was just down at the office on Monday reminding them."

"The director told me to be sure to plow this," he replied.

"It's private property and it's getting all torn up, if you insist on plowing it the town will be getting a repair bill."  He shrugged and continued on leaving clods of driveway macadam in his wake and huge boulders of frozen snow strewn throughout the previously cleared and neat drive.  The drive was now impassable as he also piled tons of snow across the majority of the intersection with Dodd's Lane.  I was fuming and went inside to ask my mom to call the DPW office.

No one was manning the phone...no surprise.  But either they have caller ID and noticed 4 phone calls from the same number, or more likely the plow driver went and told the director that he'd met up with resistance in the form of a crazy lady who didn't want her driveway plowed, because within a half hour I had a phone call from the director of the DPW.  He asked a few questions and claimed that the driver had misunderstood his directions...whatever...I asked that since they had plowed, could they neaten up the mess they left behind.

Within 15 minutes two DPW trucks arrived, one with a plow.  The first truck was evidently driven by the director who surveyed the situation and spoke to the adjoining neighbor.  The plow was driven by the foreman(?), a nice guy who was muttering, "We aren't supposed to be plowing this," over and over as he walked down the drive to meet me at the bottom!

When he met up with me he repeated it, "We aren't supposed to be plowing this...but that neighbor that the director is talking to called and asked if we were going to and..."

"You can go ahead and plow her driveway if you want!  I don't care.  But don't plow this, it's getting all torn up with the blade!"

"I don't want to plow her driveway!" was his response.

So no more plowing of the back drive.  The director's excuse was that he told the plow driver to be sure to plow between house numbers 3 and 5 (Dodd's Lane)...which he did.  But he mistakenly thought the director meant also between numbers 5 and 7...or mistook them for 3 and 5.  Doesn't matter.  Only two things matter...they won't be plowing my back drive any longer...yay!  But even after they 'cleaned up' the residual mess that they had left behind, they still left half my drive blocked with a frozen solid, four foot high, pile of snow.

Spring is coming...

Have I Ever Mentioned...

Cattitude...yes, I'm grumpy even with a winter coat

that I hate snow?  Not a precisely accurate statement.  I hate having to shovel snow.  And I have to shovel a lot of area.  Mom's wide driveway, mom's crushed stone parking area, mom's front walk and steps, the back walk, the deck, my crushed stone drive, my steps.  At least the 6-8 inches that we were not supposed to get last night is fairly light and fluffy. 

The meteorologists should have stuck with their original forecast.  They changed it from 6+ inches for our area to 0 or a dusting.  Last night's late news included word that 'the event' was over...no more snow for the weekend.  Done.  When I woke up this morning I noticed, from my angle still in bed, that there was a light coating of white on a nearby rooftop.  Oh, no worries...just a dusting.  Then there was a rumble that got louder and louder. 

A snowplow?

I got out of bed and looked out the window.  There it all was, waiting for digging out...and a sizable plow-in, too!  The dread felt was soon replaced by a gnawing irritation.  The town had plowed the back drive...again.  They are supposed to stay off of it.  I started a pot of coffee and bundled up in snow gear to start shoveling.  I checked the back drive...yep, they've dug up more pavement.  That adds another chore to tomorrow's list...a trip to the DPW office to complain.  Obviously they forgot that they agreed to stay off my property and drive.

I propose a compromise.  It can snow all it wants to...as long as it doesn't accumulate on drives, walks, or streets...and it's 80°F while it does it.  (I'll settle for 60°...but don't tell)

Short Changed...Again

Tomorrow is the Rockport PTO Holiday Fair and I will be a vendor.  It can take some doing to reserve a table at this fair.  It's fairly large and well-attended and some folks have been vendor-ing at it over a number of years.  The first year I had to settle for half a table just to get a 'foot in the door'.  Last year I got my reserve money in early and received an entire table...though not in the best of locations.

This year I was an early reserver once again.  I'm not much in the spirit of the season, but I've managed to boost myself into getting prepared..

Today was busy with work and meetings.  It was dark by the time I got to loading all my 'gear' into the Rav4 and hauling it all, and mom and 'A' and myself, up to the high school gymnasium to set up.  The email that I had received, and the confirmation card that arrived in the mail, said that my payment of $50 and my donation to the raffle of one handmade item ($10 in my case) reserved an 8 foot table.  Everyone's confirmations said the same thing.

There's a problem though.  The table that I am assigned is only 6 feet.  There are 12-6 foot tables.  There are at least 34-8 footers, probably more.  You better believe that I'll be mentioning this to the 'woman in charge', the woman who took my money, tomorrow (she kinda of disappeared tonight before I had a chance to air my grievance). 

I figure it this way.  $50 for an 8 foot table equals $6.25 per foot.  My 6 foot table should have only cost me $37.50. (Same for the others stuck with those 6-footers)  I am renting sales space and I should not have to pay a higher rate for that space than other vendors.

Did my ill-fortune end there?  Oh, of course not.  After I got back home and had some dinner I needed to go down to my workshop to glue on a set of keytops.  This client had reserved the last set of standard off-white keytops available.  The supplier no longer stocks them and this was the last set that I had.  I can still offer off-white, but in a more expensive set.  I got everything lined up ready to go and discovered that there was no A-A.  Now to some of you this doesn't mean anything.  Let me explain.  A-A is the first note at the left end of the keyboard.  It is a different shape than any other key and thus within the set of new keytops it is important to have that A-A  (as well as a C-C for the right end).  Still don't understand?  Well, I'll just say that an important part of the set was missing and I can't get any more.  Yep, short changed again. 

I did make it work.  I happened to have some spare off-white keytops accumulated from breaking up a set when a keytop got damaged and I needed a replacement.  However, there was no A-A (of course not).  I used a C-C (trust me it will be okay).  I'll have to trim it to look like A-A and then I'll remove the 'C-C' designation at the back end of the keytop.

My evening has made a cranky me.  Tomorrow better be a good one.

The Hole Gets Deeper

Halibut Point sunset

I can't seem to get ahead of anything.  Household projects like getting ready for winter, or work - not that there's a lot - I just can't get any time in at it without interruptions, money is going out as fast as it comes in - I needed a new muffler this week in order to pass vehicle inspection - there went a chunk, plus the regular bills and business bills.  The up side could be that I never lack for something to keep busy.  The down side is that I have been too busy.  Never ending.  I'm caught between crying, fleeing to a far away country, screaming, banging fists or head against something unforgivingly hard, or doing nothing but nursing an unhappy stomach and a headache.  The latter won.  So all of you will have to be content with a pretty picture because I haven't managed to climb out.  It's only gotten deeper.